Turbine airfoils are exposed to high temperature environments within operating turbine engines. Conventional turbine airfoils have been formed from metals and have included internal cooling systems for routing cooling fluids, such as air, through the turbine airfoils to maintain the turbine airfoil within acceptable temperature limits. These internal cooling systems have evolved over time from simplistic systems to very complex cooling systems in an effort to increase the efficiency of the turbine engine. While the efficiency of internal cooling systems has been increased, turbine airfoils formed from heat tolerant composite materials have been introduced as an alternative. For instance, turbine airfoils have been formed from ceramic materials, such as, but not limited to, ceramic matrix composite (CMC), and other such materials. Ceramics can handle high temperature environments without damage but lack the strength and formability of metals.
Use of ceramics in forming turbine airfoils limits the ability to create an aerodynamic trailing edge. More specifically, a ceramic matrix can not be formed into a thin edge, as commonly found in conventional metal turbine airfoils. Rather, a trailing edge of a ceramic turbine airfoil often has a blunt shape. Trailing edge attachments have been developed from other materials, such as conventional metals used to form turbine airfoils, and attached to the trailing edge of a composite airfoil to reduce the aerodynamic losses associated with a blunt shaped trailing edge.